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Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God's Word Today
Preachers fill our church pulpits, conference stages, and television airwaves. But the question remains: What does good preaching sound like? In this accessible volume—written for church leaders and laypersons alike—pastor David Helm offers us an answer as he outlines the four foundational elements underlying truly life-giving, God-glorifying preaching: contextualization, exegesis, theological reflection, and application. Emphasizing faithful exposition of the biblical text over snappy sound bites or quippy platitudes, this short book offers practical, step-by-step guidance for preachers and will equip laypersons to recognize good preaching when they hear it.
130 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2014
273 people are currently reading
1151 people want to read
About the author
David R. Helm
27 books40 followersDavid R. Helm, along with Arthur Jackson, serves as Lead Pastor of the Hyde Park Congregation of Holy Trinity Church Chicago. David is Chairman of The Charles Simeon Trust, a ministry devoted to equipping men in expository preaching.
A graduate of Wheaton College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, David is ordained in the PCA and serves on the council of The Gospel Coalition. He authored I, II Peter and Jude in Crossway’s Preaching the Word series, and contributed to Preach the Word:Essays in Expository Preaching in Honor of Kent Hughes. In addition, David has written The Big Picture Story Bible, One to One Bible Reading and The Genesis Factor (the latter with Jon Dennis). His forthcoming book on preaching is titled Expositional Preaching: How we speak God's Word Today which will be released in April of 2014.
David and his wife, Lisa, have five children (Noah, Joanna, who is married to Ben Panner, Baxter, Silas and Mariah) and reside in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
A graduate of Wheaton College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, David is ordained in the PCA and serves on the council of The Gospel Coalition. He authored I, II Peter and Jude in Crossway’s Preaching the Word series, and contributed to Preach the Word:Essays in Expository Preaching in Honor of Kent Hughes. In addition, David has written The Big Picture Story Bible, One to One Bible Reading and The Genesis Factor (the latter with Jon Dennis). His forthcoming book on preaching is titled Expositional Preaching: How we speak God's Word Today which will be released in April of 2014.
David and his wife, Lisa, have five children (Noah, Joanna, who is married to Ben Panner, Baxter, Silas and Mariah) and reside in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 383 reviews
June 29, 2015
A good sturdy volume on sticking close to the text. Very helpful for preachers. I am reminded of the time when I was in junior high and my father was leading a bunch of us in an inductive Bible study. We were all sitting in a circle with our Bibles open in our laps. My father asked a question, and we all sat there looking at him. He then said, as I shall never forget, "The answer's not on my forehead."
October 12, 2016
My cousin's husband, who's a pastor himself, recommended this book to me during a discussion on preaching at a family reunion. When I got it out of the library, I was pleased to discover that it was quite short and to the point. (I'm afraid I don't have much patience with theological tomes; sorry, St. Augustine!)
I grew up in a small fellowship where the teaching was always Bible-based and Bible-focused. Having learned preaching in that environment, more by example than by instruction, I didn't realize until fairly recently that this style had a name. We were expositional before expositional was cool!
It was both interesting and edifying, however, to learn some of the "theory" behind the practice. I love the esteem in which Helm holds the Word of God, and how he argues we should submit to it, and allow it to shape our preaching. I was also very pleased with the emphasis he places on our dependence on the Holy Spirit, especially in the last chapter. Books such as this one can certainly be helpful, but without the Spirit of God speaking His Word through us, we are all the "clanging gong" spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
The one thing I didn't love about the book was that it felt, at times, like a sort of condensed, college-level textbook. There were a lot of abstract concepts, and I didn't feel that the alliterative lists (sometimes nested inside other alliterative lists) made them memorable enough to really be helpful. The practical examples were great, and I wish there had been more of those, and less abstraction.
Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book, and it has me interested to look up the other ones in the 9Marks series. (Not being a Calvinist, though, I expect I'll probably find some of them a little annoying. :-))
I will close with a couple of my favorite takeaway quotes from the book:
"The people are the point!"
"Preachers cannot be too simple. *We need clarity.*"
And I can hear the few folks who put up with my sometimes-wordy preaching saying "amen" to the latter! :-)
I grew up in a small fellowship where the teaching was always Bible-based and Bible-focused. Having learned preaching in that environment, more by example than by instruction, I didn't realize until fairly recently that this style had a name. We were expositional before expositional was cool!
It was both interesting and edifying, however, to learn some of the "theory" behind the practice. I love the esteem in which Helm holds the Word of God, and how he argues we should submit to it, and allow it to shape our preaching. I was also very pleased with the emphasis he places on our dependence on the Holy Spirit, especially in the last chapter. Books such as this one can certainly be helpful, but without the Spirit of God speaking His Word through us, we are all the "clanging gong" spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
The one thing I didn't love about the book was that it felt, at times, like a sort of condensed, college-level textbook. There were a lot of abstract concepts, and I didn't feel that the alliterative lists (sometimes nested inside other alliterative lists) made them memorable enough to really be helpful. The practical examples were great, and I wish there had been more of those, and less abstraction.
Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book, and it has me interested to look up the other ones in the 9Marks series. (Not being a Calvinist, though, I expect I'll probably find some of them a little annoying. :-))
I will close with a couple of my favorite takeaway quotes from the book:
"The people are the point!"
"Preachers cannot be too simple. *We need clarity.*"
And I can hear the few folks who put up with my sometimes-wordy preaching saying "amen" to the latter! :-)
April 19, 2021
Clear, focused, pastoral introduction to expository preaching. As is the case with the other books in this series, it is foundational and exceptionally helpful.
January 30, 2022
An excellent, concise treatise on the process of preparing an expositional sermon. This book is very useful for the layman in guiding him through the process of personal Bible study. I read it in a day, but I'm sure I will be reading it several more times in the months to come.
May 14, 2023
Good emphasis on preaching the original, God-intended meaning of the text - although the language/definitions felt too purposefully “trendy.” My preference, yes, but I tire of the word, “contextualization” used frequently when discussing expository preaching.
February 20, 2022
David Helm’s "Expositional Preaching" is designed as a concise (but not simplistic) resource to encourage preachers to adopt the philosophy of expositional preaching, as well as give them several useful tools for the preparation of sermons. Helm defines expository preaching as “empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text. In that way, it brings out of the text what the Holy Spirit put there…and does not put into the text what the preacher thinks might be there” (page 13).
Helm admires Charles Simeon and lists Simeon’s goals for preaching: “to humble the sinner; to exalt the Saviour; to promote holiness” (page 13). In order to encourage the fulfillment of these goals, Helm first examines the issue of contextualization, which he acknowledges is “essential to good exposition” (page 15). Helm defines contextualization in preaching as “communicating the gospel message in ways that are understandable or appropriate to the listener’s cultural context” (page 16). He warns of the dangers of a preacher being preoccupied with the world rather than God’s Word, of using the Bible more for support than illumination, or of simply preaching whatever the preacher feels the Spirit is saying to him without considering the context and meaning of the passage (pages 17-35). Helm insists that preacher can and must both get the message right and get it across (pages 36-37).
To avoid the wrong use of contextualization, Helm spends the remainder of his book focusing in turn on three different aspects or stages of expository sermon preparation: exegesis, theological reflection, and the proper use of contextualization. He begins with exegesis, listing three priorities for the preacher as follows. “He 1) gives the biblical context control over the meaning of the text; 2) listens intently until he knows how the text fits within the overall message of the book; and 3) sees the structure and emphasis of the text” (page 40). In order to accomplish these goals, the preacher will take into account the literary and historical context (page 45), as well as what Helm calls “the gospel context of the Bible as a whole” (page 59).
Helm then moves on to the stage of theological reflection, which he defines as “a rigorous and prayerful discipline of taking the time to meditate on my text and how it relates to God’s plan of redemption. It is an exercise that asks how my passage relates to the Bible as a whole, especially to the saving acts of God in Jesus” (page 62). The expositor should look for prophetic fulfillment, historical trajectory, themes, and analogies in order to understand how this text anticipates or reflects the gospel (pages 71-73). Having both a biblical theology and a systematic theology are essential for this stage.
Finally, Helm returns to contextualization. He notes three areas in which contextualization should inform our preaching: “the makeup of your audience, the arrangement of your material, and the application of your message” (page 87). Proper contextualization leads to good application, which is always focused on the heart. Proper application should aim for repentance, be rooted in prayer, and come from the heart of the text (page 103).
Helm’s book is an excellent resource for preachers at any stage of life or ministry. It provides a good introduction to the philosophy of expository preaching for those who may not be particularly familiar or skilled in this area. Additionally, it is very helpful even for preachers who have long since embraced this philosophy. While Expositional Preaching is not particularly long, and thus is short on technical detail, it nonetheless packs a punch. I found the section on exegesis helpful if somewhat brief, but the section on theological reflection was my personal favorite. Helm gives an excellent challenge to all preachers to make sure that our sermons fit within a larger gospel context of biblical and systematic theology.
This would be an excellent first book to give to a student of preaching. It could serve equally well as a refresher to someone who had been in the ministry for much longer. In nearly every preaching context, Helm’s book will prove useful to those who read it.
Helm admires Charles Simeon and lists Simeon’s goals for preaching: “to humble the sinner; to exalt the Saviour; to promote holiness” (page 13). In order to encourage the fulfillment of these goals, Helm first examines the issue of contextualization, which he acknowledges is “essential to good exposition” (page 15). Helm defines contextualization in preaching as “communicating the gospel message in ways that are understandable or appropriate to the listener’s cultural context” (page 16). He warns of the dangers of a preacher being preoccupied with the world rather than God’s Word, of using the Bible more for support than illumination, or of simply preaching whatever the preacher feels the Spirit is saying to him without considering the context and meaning of the passage (pages 17-35). Helm insists that preacher can and must both get the message right and get it across (pages 36-37).
To avoid the wrong use of contextualization, Helm spends the remainder of his book focusing in turn on three different aspects or stages of expository sermon preparation: exegesis, theological reflection, and the proper use of contextualization. He begins with exegesis, listing three priorities for the preacher as follows. “He 1) gives the biblical context control over the meaning of the text; 2) listens intently until he knows how the text fits within the overall message of the book; and 3) sees the structure and emphasis of the text” (page 40). In order to accomplish these goals, the preacher will take into account the literary and historical context (page 45), as well as what Helm calls “the gospel context of the Bible as a whole” (page 59).
Helm then moves on to the stage of theological reflection, which he defines as “a rigorous and prayerful discipline of taking the time to meditate on my text and how it relates to God’s plan of redemption. It is an exercise that asks how my passage relates to the Bible as a whole, especially to the saving acts of God in Jesus” (page 62). The expositor should look for prophetic fulfillment, historical trajectory, themes, and analogies in order to understand how this text anticipates or reflects the gospel (pages 71-73). Having both a biblical theology and a systematic theology are essential for this stage.
Finally, Helm returns to contextualization. He notes three areas in which contextualization should inform our preaching: “the makeup of your audience, the arrangement of your material, and the application of your message” (page 87). Proper contextualization leads to good application, which is always focused on the heart. Proper application should aim for repentance, be rooted in prayer, and come from the heart of the text (page 103).
Helm’s book is an excellent resource for preachers at any stage of life or ministry. It provides a good introduction to the philosophy of expository preaching for those who may not be particularly familiar or skilled in this area. Additionally, it is very helpful even for preachers who have long since embraced this philosophy. While Expositional Preaching is not particularly long, and thus is short on technical detail, it nonetheless packs a punch. I found the section on exegesis helpful if somewhat brief, but the section on theological reflection was my personal favorite. Helm gives an excellent challenge to all preachers to make sure that our sermons fit within a larger gospel context of biblical and systematic theology.
This would be an excellent first book to give to a student of preaching. It could serve equally well as a refresher to someone who had been in the ministry for much longer. In nearly every preaching context, Helm’s book will prove useful to those who read it.
September 27, 2022
What the church desperately needs today are more expositional preachers - preachers who, as Charles Simeon once said: 'bring out of Scripture what is there, and not to thrust in what [they] think might be there.' This concise book is a very helpful introduction to expositional preaching. Helm explains the pitfalls of immediate contextualisation which fails to consider the original audience of a biblical text. He convincingly argues that sound preaching begins with good exegesis and theological reflection (understanding how the passage relates to Christ). Only then can the preacher begin to apply God's word effectively to his audience. This book is also a good reminder that the goal of preaching is heart repentance: 'we set out to win the hearts of our listeners to the full praise that Christ deserves' (p. 103).
This is an excellent book for preachers and Bible study leaders but it's also helpful for anyone who is serious about the Bible and its message.
This is an excellent book for preachers and Bible study leaders but it's also helpful for anyone who is serious about the Bible and its message.
January 30, 2020
A well-organized, concise introduction to the basic philosophy and practice of biblical exposition.
June 26, 2025
David Helm offers a short and concise view on what it takes to preach expositionally. The book is included in the Nine Marks series and is meant to be helpful for the whole church, but this title is specifically geared towards pastors. Helm first takes issue with the current preoccupation with contextualization in preaching and seeks to put it in its integral but not all-important place. He emphasized the necessity of “holding the line” or sticking to the whole truth and nothing more or less than what the passage being preached says. He includes his own method for arriving at a properly done expositional sermon at the end. It was super helpful and has spurred me on to read more in depth on the topic.
July 3, 2025
Helpful.
July 3, 2016
Outstanding. After a rocky first chapter with less-than-stellar examples, Helm pulls together a compelling vision for what expositional preaching is and what it should look like.
"Much of what we think is faithful biblical preaching actually misses the mark because of a lack of restraint...Expositional preaching is empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text. In that way it brings out of the text what the Holy Spirit put there."
Much of what's billed as "expositional preaching" is not actually expositional preaching. Just because it goes verse-by-verse, or because this week's sermon covers the next section after the previous week's sermon, that doesn't mean the preacher has adequately captured the shape and emphasis of the text. But how freeing is it not to have to invent a profound sermon outline! The outline of the text can simply become the outline for the sermon. Helm does a great job showing us how to draw out the text's meaning and connect it to our people's lives.
In my role of training preachers at our church, this book will now be my standard manual.
2016 UPDATE: Read again in 2016 along with my church's preaching training team. Still superb (after a rocky first chapter).
"Much of what we think is faithful biblical preaching actually misses the mark because of a lack of restraint...Expositional preaching is empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text. In that way it brings out of the text what the Holy Spirit put there."
Much of what's billed as "expositional preaching" is not actually expositional preaching. Just because it goes verse-by-verse, or because this week's sermon covers the next section after the previous week's sermon, that doesn't mean the preacher has adequately captured the shape and emphasis of the text. But how freeing is it not to have to invent a profound sermon outline! The outline of the text can simply become the outline for the sermon. Helm does a great job showing us how to draw out the text's meaning and connect it to our people's lives.
In my role of training preachers at our church, this book will now be my standard manual.
2016 UPDATE: Read again in 2016 along with my church's preaching training team. Still superb (after a rocky first chapter).
September 15, 2018
Ce livre peut sauver les 3/4 de prédicateurs de nos Eglises françaises qui ne sont pas formés, qui prêchent la Bible hors-contexte et/ou sans parler de Jésus-Christ et/ou qui ne font pas de prédication textuelle.
January 6, 2018
Excellent! Chaque pasteur, et chaque personne qui se prépare pour le ministère devrait lire ça!
December 1, 2021
As I liked another book from this series I was motivated to start this one too. It's not only for those who preach, it is recommended to all of us in the auditorium and who want to critically approach sermons we are being exposed to.
It resonated well with a sermon I heard recently on how one can love God with all his mind (according to the verse Luke 10:27 “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”).
The reading is dense with analysis and examples, as on a less then 200 pages there is no room for empty words.
I like this concept and will definitely read some other books from this edition.
It resonated well with a sermon I heard recently on how one can love God with all his mind (according to the verse Luke 10:27 “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”).
The reading is dense with analysis and examples, as on a less then 200 pages there is no room for empty words.
I like this concept and will definitely read some other books from this edition.
January 3, 2026
“Some preachers use the Bible the way a drunk uses a lamp post… more for support than for illumination”
“Humble the listener, exalt the savior, and promote holiness”
Actually super helpful! This would help people use discernment when listening to others preach, read their Bible well on their own, and of course, preach well for others!
I’m so glad I read this before my next sermon because I totally see how I fall into some of the mistaken approaches to preaching outlined here. His explanation of impressionistic preaching and its prevalence was especially eye opening.
“Humble the listener, exalt the savior, and promote holiness”
Actually super helpful! This would help people use discernment when listening to others preach, read their Bible well on their own, and of course, preach well for others!
I’m so glad I read this before my next sermon because I totally see how I fall into some of the mistaken approaches to preaching outlined here. His explanation of impressionistic preaching and its prevalence was especially eye opening.
April 8, 2017
I appreciate brevity. This book succinctly details the goal of any teacher who seeks to know the word and communicate it to others. It is not exhaustive by any means and it doesn't navigate too deep into the 'how' but it does hit the 'what' of expository Preaching in a clear, concise, and helpful way.
A good book for a young teacher or believer who wants to grow in handling the word well for others.
A good book for a young teacher or believer who wants to grow in handling the word well for others.
October 16, 2024
Read as part of preaching intensive.
I liked his intro of three dangers:
• impressionistic (immediate impression on your listeners, not exegesis)
• inebriated (use bible more for support than illumination, not let it be sovereign)
• inspired (appeal to my fresh subjective reading as inspired, of the “living word”)
His steps were simply: Exegesis -> Theological Reflection -> Today
And liked his care that: My sermon should be rightfully submitted to the shape and emphasis of the text.
I liked his intro of three dangers:
• impressionistic (immediate impression on your listeners, not exegesis)
• inebriated (use bible more for support than illumination, not let it be sovereign)
• inspired (appeal to my fresh subjective reading as inspired, of the “living word”)
His steps were simply: Exegesis -> Theological Reflection -> Today
And liked his care that: My sermon should be rightfully submitted to the shape and emphasis of the text.
May 30, 2019
Not to be mistaken with “expository” preaching. The book is more of a call to honest hermeneutic. The ideas presented are basic principles of exegesis that should be taught in the first year in any theology focused program wether B.A. or M.A. I would contend for a need to adhere to grammatical-historical hermeneutic in identifying the one and only meaning of the Scripture. Application can then follow appropriate to our context.
March 6, 2021
This small book is Just excellent. It’s simple approach was a helpful reminder for preaching the text faithfully.
June 24, 2025
Simple, concise, & to the point.
January 15, 2026
Great little book on preaching!
October 2, 2017
A short but insightful book that does exactly what it sets out to do: give a proper, simple introduction to the topic of, the practice of, and the purpose of expository preaching.
October 28, 2025
Pretty helpful, not what I expected though. Definitely geared toward the vocational preacher over the average church member
May 1, 2014
There are at least two reasons why you should pick up and read this book based solely on what you can learn from the cover. The first reason is that this is a book about preaching written by David Helm. David Helm leads the Charles Simeon Trust, an organization with a solid reputation dedicated to helping pastors become better preachers. The second reason is this book is a part of the 9 Marks: Building Healthy Churches series. This series of books is consistently concise, helpful, and a delight to read. I have personally read 5 of the 7 books published so far in this series and each time I have found that book to be the best brief treatment of the subject and the book I would be most likely to share with someone in my church who wanted to know more about that topic. For those two reasons alone I would say, get this book and read it.
But you may want to know about what’s inside the book as well. And here we find even more reasons to read this book. Inside you find four chapters, one on how not to preach, and three covering the three steps to preparing a faithful expository sermon (studying the text, putting it in the wider biblical context, and crafting the sermon). His chapter on studying the text seemed to be the strongest of the three. The second of the three encourages the use of biblical and systematic theology, and the third reminds preachers that their job is not done until they have applied the text to their current audience.
Because it covers all the basics but remains brief, Helm’s book is a great starting place for those new to expository preaching, but it also makes a great ‘refresher course’ for those already practicing it.
But you may want to know about what’s inside the book as well. And here we find even more reasons to read this book. Inside you find four chapters, one on how not to preach, and three covering the three steps to preparing a faithful expository sermon (studying the text, putting it in the wider biblical context, and crafting the sermon). His chapter on studying the text seemed to be the strongest of the three. The second of the three encourages the use of biblical and systematic theology, and the third reminds preachers that their job is not done until they have applied the text to their current audience.
Because it covers all the basics but remains brief, Helm’s book is a great starting place for those new to expository preaching, but it also makes a great ‘refresher course’ for those already practicing it.
July 4, 2022
Very helpful outline to what expositional preaching is. Expositional preaching is so vital to a healthy church that desires to preach Gods word. David Helm does a great job describing the importance of practical application with rigorous exegesis. They need each other.
He also makes sure to emphasize Christ in all preaching. If we aren’t preaching Christ, what are we doing? The gospel must be foundational in our preaching and I believe Helm does a great job at emphasizing that in his theological reflections.
He also makes sure to emphasize Christ in all preaching. If we aren’t preaching Christ, what are we doing? The gospel must be foundational in our preaching and I believe Helm does a great job at emphasizing that in his theological reflections.
August 15, 2018
I have referred to this book often as I prepare to teach women and /or lead Bible study. Such a little jewel. Easy to read in one sitting and comes with a handy Sunday at the end that serves as a checklist for the Bible teacher. Highly reccomend for believers who teach the Word.
February 15, 2022
This is an excellent little book on the nature of biblical preaching and the duty of the preacher. It was easy to read and digest but sets out a high calling in several clear steps. I recommend this book to anyone preaching in the church.
March 10, 2020
If I could give someone only 1 book on preaching, it would be this one.
May 18, 2018
Leer este libro ha puesto bases para una buena predicacion, no importa si tienes mucho tiempo predicando, este le ayuda a dar una mejor forma a la forma en que ya se predica.
September 10, 2020
It is okay, I think it is a little too progressive and appeals to the culture a little too much.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 383 reviews